Modern Spanish Syntax: Chapter 4 Flashcards
Whom are you looking for?
A quien buscas?
The child is already walking
El nino camina ya
The child was already walking
El nino caminaba ya
What are you complaining about now?
De que te estas quejando ahora?
She was hiding something from him.
Ella le estaba ocultando algo
He is about to give in
Ya cede
He is giving in
Esta cediendo
She was seeing him every Monday
Lo veia cada lunes
He is calling her every so often
La llama cada tanto
He was losing all of his fortune
Iba perdiendo toda su fortuna
She has been improving slowly
Ha ido mejorando de a poco
He is spending the mornings writing
Se pasa las mananas escribiendo
Wherever he was going at that time, he was well received.
A donde iba en aquel entonces, era bien recibido.
Whenever he was writing, she was naging.
Siempre que el escribia, ella lo molestaba
He was slowly curtailing her freedom
Poco a poco iba limitando su independencia
She is feeling better as the days go by
Va sintiendose mejor a medida que pasan los dias
I am writing, do not interrupt me.
Estoy escribiendo, no me interrumpas
When I went to see him, they were having dinner
Cuando lo fui a ver, estaban cenando
I am enclosing the materials you have requested
Adjunto los materiales que Ud. ha solicitado
We are sending you the application form and all pertinent information
Le enviamos la solicitud y toda la informacion pertinente
He is arriving this afternoon
Llega esta tarde
She is speaking tomorrow
Habla manana.
We are sending her flowers for her birthday
Le enviaremos flores para su cumpleanos
I was told he would be returning soon
Me dijeron que volveria pronto
I am going to call her later on
Voy a llamarla despues
He was going to leave the following day
Iba a irse al dia siguiente
They are going to study tonight
Van a estudiar esta noche
I am going to Chicago
Voy a Chicago
As I was leaving, the phone rang
Cuando me iba, sono el telefono
He was told that she would be arriving the following week
Le dijeron que ella llegaria la semana entrante
I am already leaving
Ya me voy
I am already returning
Ya vuelvo
We were walking downtown when we saw Maria
Estabamos caminando en el centro cuando vimos a Maria
She was walking with her boyfriend in the afternoon
Estaba paseando con su novio por la tarde
He is having a hard time
El la esta pasando muy mal
You are being very unfair
Estas actuando muy injustamente
They are being very cautious
Estan procediendo con mucha cautela
He is having a dinner party
Tiene una cena
I am listening, continue
Te estoy oyendo, sigue
I am watching them from the window
Los estoy viendo desde la ventana
She is as bored as she can be
Esta aburriendose como nunca
He was standing on the corner
Estaba parado en la esquina
She was lying down
Estaba acostada, descansando
He was sitting next to her
Estaba sentado junto a ella.
She kept on writing him every Monday.
Seguia escribiendole todos los lunes
Despite his doctor’s advice he kept on working as hard as before
A pesar de los consejos del medico continuaba trabajando tanto como antes
He will continue hating him until he dies
Seguira odiandolo hasta que se muera
She kept on calling me every so often
Seguia llamandome de vez en cuando
He is grasping the subject matter better than before
Va entendiendo la materia mejor que antes
Her affection for him was growing daily
Iba queriendolo cada dia mas
It is beginning to get dark
Se va haciendo de noche
It is getting late
Se va haciendo tarde
Little by little he continued adding books to his collection.
Poco a poco iba anadiendo libros a su coleccion.
Follow step by step the instructions I have given you
Ve siguiendo paso a paso las instrucciones que te he dado
In the beginning he drank moderately but later on he started overdoing it
Al principio bebia poco, pero despues fue abusando
He has been struggling for years to forge for himself a better future
Hace anos que viene luchando por forjarse un porvenir.
I have been waiting for you since two o’clock
Vengo esperandote desde las dos
He had been asking for justice for years
Venia pidiendo justicia desde hacia anos
He has been in love with her since his teens
Viene queriendola desde la adolescencia
I have been warning you about it for months
Vengo advirtiendotelo desde hace meses.
He has been getting progressively worse since last night
Viene empeorandose desde anoche
He has been looking for you since yesterday
Anda buscandote desde ayer
He goes about making blunders.
Anda haciendo disparates
He was traveling in Europe
Andaba viajando por Europa
He goes about courting all the girls in town
Anda enamorando a todas las muchachas del pueblo
He was not lying. He never lied and had no reason to do it then.
No estaba mintiendo. El no mentia nuna y no tenia por que hacerlo entonces.
She is feeding the child. She always feeds him early.
Esta dandole de comer al nino. Siempre le da de comer temprano.
She was feeding the child. She always fed him early.
Estaba dandole de comer al nino. Siempre le daba de comer temprano.
He will it explain it to her in a second
Ya se lo explica
He explains it to her
Se lo explica
He is explaining it to her
Se lo esta explicando
He was going to explain it to her in a second
Ya se lo explicaba
He used it to explain it to her
Se lo explicaba
He was explaining it to her
Se lo estaba explicando
He is about to give in
Ya cede
He gives in easily
Cede facilmente
He is giving in
Esta cediendo
He was going to give in
Ya cedia
He gave in easily
Cedia facilmente
He was giving in
Estaba cediendo
He will give it to me later
Me lo da luego
He gives me what I ask for
Me da cuanto le pido
He is giving me what I asked for
Me esta dando lo que le pedi
He would give it to me later
Me lo daba luego
He would give me what I asked for
Me daba lo que le pedia
He was giving me what I had asked for
Me estaba dando lo que le habia pedido
She gets used to everything
Ella se acostumbra a todo
I see that she is getting accustomed to his presence
Veo que se esta acostumbrando a su presencia
I saw that she was getting accustomed to his presence
Veia que se estaba acostumbrando a su presencia
Leave it alone now because you are getting tired
Dejalo ya porque te estas cansando demasiado
I insisted that you leave it alone because you were getting too tired
Insisti que lo dejaras porque te estabas cansando demasiado
She says the children are playing in the garden
Dice que los ninos estan jugando en el jardin
*“jugaban would imply habitual action
She said that the children were playing in the garden
Dijo que los ninos estaban jugando en el jardin
I was waiting for you
Te estaba esperando
I will go out even though it is raining
Voy a salir aunque llueve
I was going to go out even though it was raining
Iba a salir aunque llovia
I see that she is talking to someone
Veo que habla con alguien
I saw that she was talking to someone
Vi que hablaba con alguien
Since you insist, I accept
Ya que insistes, acepto
Since you insisted, I accepted
Ya que insistias, aepte
He is accepting his fate with great courage
Acepta su destino con gran valentia.
He was always needing money
Siempre necesitaba dinero
Whenever he was writing, his wife was nagging
Siempre que el escribia, su mujer lo molestaba
I am seeing her tomorrow
Manana la veo
He was returning the following week
Regresaba la semana siguiente
His strength is failing him little by little
Sus fuerzas le van fallando de a poco
The wedding party was entering the church
El cortejo nupcial iba entrando a la iglesia
He is regaining his strength.
Va recobrando las fuerzas
I spent the whole morning calling you
*use the preterite progressive
Estuve llamandote toda la manana
He spent two hours waiting for her.
*use the preterite progressive
Estuvo esperandola por dos horas
He had been working until she arrived
*use the preterite progressive
Estuvo trabajando hasta que ella llego
He had been looking for a job for months before he found something
Estuvo buscando trabajo por meses antes de encontrar algo
At five he was still working
A las cinco todavia estaba trabajando
At midnight he was still studying
A medianoche todavia estaba estudiando
I have been thinking about you all afternoon
He estado pensando en ti toda la tarde
I had been thinking about you all afternoon
Habia estado pensando en ti toda la tarde
We have been working all day long
Hemos estado trabajando todo el dia
We had been working all day long
Habiamos estado trabajando todo el dia
We have been living here for years
Hace anos que vivmos aqui
We had been living there for years
Hacia anos que viviamos alli
She has been dating him for months
Sale con el desde hace meses
She had been dating him for months
Salia con el desde hacia meses
She has not been eating for a week
Hace una semana que no come
I have been explaining it to him for hours
Hace horas que se lo estoy explicando
I have been begging you for quite a while
Hace rato que te lo estoy suplicando
I had been explaining it to him for hours
Hacia horas que se lo estaba explicando
I had been begging him for quite a while
Hacia rato que se lo estaba suplicando
Since his father died he has been squandering the family’s fortune
Desde que murio su padre ha ido malgastando la fortuna de la familia
He has been curtailing her freedom little by little
Poco a poco ha ido limitando su indepencia
Since his father died he had been squandering the family’s fortune
Desde que habia muerto el padre habia ido malgastando la fortuna de la familia
When you arrive we will be waiting for you at the airport
Cuando llegues estaremos esperandote en el aeropuerto
We agreed that when he arrived we would be waiting for him at the airport
Convenimos que cuando llegara estariamos esperandolo en el aeropuerto
Tomorrow at this time I will be writing to you
Manana a estas horas estare escribiendote
Next week we will be crossing the equator
La semana que viene estaremos cruzando el ecuador
I wonder what she is thinking about?
En que estara pensando ella?
He had been studying until midnight
Estuvo estudiando hasta medianoche
*time-confined adverbials, ongoing event terminated
I wonder what the child is doing?
Que estara haciendo el nino
I wonder what they are saying?
Que estaran diciendo?
What could he be telling her?
Que le dira a ella?
What was going on there?
Que pasaria alli?
We will be sending her flowers for her birthday.
*intent
Vamos a enviarle flores para su cumpleanos
She said she would be leaving soon
Dijo que se iria (iba a ir) pronto
She was wondering whether something wasn’t going on between her husband and that woman
Ella se preguntaba si entre esa mujer y su marido no estaria pasando algo
I was told they would be marrying soon
Me dijeron que se casarian (iban a casarse) pronto
What is the “ir + -ndo” form used for?
To stress duration from a time frame forward and realization by degree.
e.g. Iba queriéndolo cada día más
Se va haciendo de noche
